tjequhart



UNTE srarns PATENT oFFicE.

W'. URQUHART, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

LIFE-PRESERVING- RAFT OF BUOYANT MATTRESSES.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 19,593, dated March 9, 18158,

To all whom fit may concern:

Be it known that I, VALTER URQUHART, of the city, county, and State ofNew York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Life-PreservingMattresses; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear,and exact description of the same, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in which-Figure 1, is a plan of a life preserving raft constructed of my improvedmattresses. Fig. 2, is a side view of the same. Fig. 3, is a perspectiveview of my improved mattresses. Fig. 4, is a transverse section of thesame.

Similar letters of reference in each of the several figures indicatecorresponding parts.

My invention is especially intended for application to water proof duckcotton mattresses, which are stuffed with cork shavings, such mattressesbeing very pleasant and comfortable as a bed and being very buoyant whenin water.

rlhe improvement made by me consists in providing the mattresses of aship with straps and buckles on their upper and under surfaces, and withloops around their edges in the peculiar manner shown. By thisarrangement, incase of emergency a series of mattresses can be buckledtogether, and a life preserving raft formed by placing several layers ortiers of the mattresses, thus buckled together, on top one another in amanner to form angular break joints, and said layers or tiers thusarranged, readily and conveniently strapped together in such a mannerthat it will be impossible for the tiers to separate or change theirposition longitudinally or laterally. A raft of this character formed often mattresses, it is believed will float or buoy up 3000 pounds.

Now in case of a ship takingre at sea or getting on a lee shore when thewater tight bulkheads are of no use whatever and when itis impossible tolower a boat on account of the heavy sea, if my mattresses are on boardany number of persons may be safely landed, the elasticity and buoyancyof the raft preventing it being dashed to pieces against the shore orrocks. A raft of this character will also answer admirably fortransporting troops, horses or heavy pieces of cannon in water where themost shallow boat could not lioat. And on a man of war in time of anengagement a breastwork can be formed and the sides of the shipprotected from being riddled with balls. Y

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention I willproceed to describe its construction and operation.

A, Figs; 3 and 4, represents one of the mattresses as constructed forsleeping upon. This mattress is made of duck canvas rendered imperviousto water by any suitable process. It is stuffed with cork shavings a, a,each of which is cut so as to have the formof. a scroll spring in orderthat the mattress shall have greater elasticity and be more pleasant forsleeping upon. This form of cork shaving also renders the mattress morebuoyant.

- B, B, represent eight straps with buckles C, C. `Four of these strapsare fastened to the top and four to the bottom of the mattress in such amanner that their ends extend beyond, the side edges of the same. Oneend of each of the straps is furnished with a buckle in such a mannerthat four buckles come on one side edge of the mattress and four on theopposite side edge, the buckles being so disposed that four come on thebottom side edge and four on the top side edge of the mattress. By thusproviding a buckle on only one end bf each of the mattress straps andleaving. the Iother end without a buckle two mattresses or any numberwith straps and buckles similarly disposed can be buckled together in avery substantial manner.

D, D, represent the loops provided `at the ends and side of themattress. By means of these loops, several layers or tiers of mattresseswhich have been buckled together can be strapped together from side andends as shown in Figs. l and 2 by straps D', D', so as to form asubstantial life preserving raft. By aranging the tiers of mattresses sothat the center c, c, c, of the mattresses of one ytier cover thejoint-s d, d, d, of another tier, the .water has not a direct passagewhereby to ascend to the top of the raft, as the raft is pressed down bythe weight. The straps D', D', also have no chance to sliplongitudinally to the right or left owing to their passing through theloops near the sides of the mattresses, as designated by e, e, in Figs.l and 2.

I am aware that it is old to form a raft by strapping together a seriesof mattresses which are arranged on the same horizontal plane, thestrapsbeing attached to the side edges and end of each mattress, and theconnection being formed in such a manner that unclosed joints betweenthe ditferent mattresses eXist for the Water to dash up through andliood the raft. Therefore I do not claim a raft thus formed, but

lVhat I do claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent,is-

Providing the mattresses of a ship With straps and buckles on theirupper and under surfaces, and with loops around their edges in thepeculiar manner shown, whereby, in case of emergency a series ofmattresses can be buckled together, and a life preserving raft formed byplacing several layers or tiers of the mattresses thus buckled togetheron top one another in a manner to form angular break joints, and saidlayers or tiers thus arranged, readily and conveniently strappedtogether in such a manner that it Will be impossible for the tiers toseparate or change their position longitudinally or laterally, as setforth.

The above specification of my improvement in life preserving mat-tressessigned by lne this 19 day of February 1858.

W. URQUHART.

Vitness-es W. TUSGH, W. HAUFF.

